Extreme cold forces Bell Capital Cup organizers to have back-up plan

In the weeks leading up to Wednesday's opening of the Bell Capital Cup tournament on the Canada 150 rink on Parliament Hill, Scott Lawryk's biggest worry was that it would be too warm outside, as was the case around this time in December of 2015. 

But that was before he looked at the weather forecast on Tuesday. 

The Bell Capital Cup general manager is now putting contingency plans in place as bone-chilling cold is expected to descend on the city this week. Environment Canada is calling for a frigid high of –17 C Wednesday with a wind chill of –34 and a high of merely –21 C on Thursday. 

Ottawa Public Health also issued a frostbite advisory for the city on Tuesday. 

This year, the Bell Capital Cup invited 32 teams from across Canada — 16 girls teams and 16 boys teams — to play in a special Canada 150 division of the annual hockey championship. Youth between the ages of nine and 12 are supposed to play 40 pee wee and atom games on the special rink Wednesday through Dec. 31, with games beginning as early as 7:15 a.m.

"I'm not too worried about the kids," Lawryyk said Tuesday. "I think they'll keep quite warm, they'll be right into things once they get out there and take a couple laps. 

"The parents might be a little cold up there. But I think everybody's going to enjoy the experience."

The last thing we want to do is take away this once in a lifetime opportunity from the kids.- Scott Lawryk, Bell Capital Cup

New measures undertaken recently due to the cold will allow players to dress at the nearby Shaw Centre, where shuttle buses will take them to the rink on Parliament Hill. Organizers will bring heaters for the players' bench to keep them warm as well, and warming trailers will be on site for event staff. 

And if the temperature if just too cold, rinks in other facilities in the city are on hold as a backup plan. 

But Lawryk is keeping his fingers crossed that that will not be the case. 

"The last thing we want to do is take away this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from the kids," he said. "But if it does come down to a safety issue we do have contingency plans in place to be able to make that move if we need to.

The 32 teams playing in the shadow of the Peace Tower, including some from remote areas in Nunavut, won a contest that was jointly sponsored by Heritage Canada to play on the rink. With the weather on everyone's mind right now, officials will be paying close attention to the cold while trying to make this event as memorable as it can be for the lucky players. 

"We're the last big event of Canada 150 so we end at 7:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve and being the being the last big event before the New year celebrations, we felt it was a great opportunity to work with the folks at Canada 150 to really end it in the most Canadian way possible," said Lawryk. "We couldn't think of a more iconic Canadian image than that so it just made perfect sense to us." 

How to stay warm

Skaters who hit the ice on Tuesday said they were thrilled the event was taking place on Parliament Hill this year and offered their own tips for the kids and their parents to keep warm. 

Linda and Craig Cudmore took their son, Dylan, out for a family skate. Dylan played in the Bell Capital Cup in previous years as a novice and atom player and wished he could have been participating in the 2017 edition. He said players should remember to keep moving, skate hard, and layer up. 

Veteran skater Mitch Warden had some tips for the parents: bring cushions to use on the metal bleachers, drink lots of coffee "and maybe something in the coffee."